Actavis Wins a ‘Product Hopping’ Case as Namenda Battle Rages On

By

Ed Silverman

Apr 21, 2015 12:33 pm ET

Four years ago, Warner-Chilcott caused a stir by adding a line, or “score,” to its Doryx tablets that are prescribed for treating acne. The move gained notice because it was seen by some as another effort by a brand-name drug maker to thwart generic competition, since any generic rival would have had to take the same time-consuming production steps to win regulatory approval to sell a copycat version. Mylan Laboratories charged Warner-Chilcott, which is now owned by Actavis, engaged in “product hopping” in order to defend a Doryx monopoly.

Mylan, however, lost its bid last week as a federal court judge ruled that Mylan was not precluded from eventually selling Doryx tablets and that the tablet scoring served a legitimate purpose that benefits consumers. The decision comes as Actavis hopes to win yet another product hopping case in which the New York State Attorney General charges the drug maker engaged in product hopping that was anticompetitive. But legal experts say the facts in these two cases are sufficiently different to make any bet on whether Actavis will win.